25 October 2015

The long saga of net neutrality in the EU is approaching its end, and things aren't looking good. The compromise text contains some huge loopholes, which I've written about elsewhere. The key vote is on Tuesday, so there's still time for EU citizens to write to their MEPs.

You can find contact details for all MEPs on the SaveTheInternet.eu site; those in the UK can also use WriteToThem.com. Here's what I've just sent - please feel free to use its idea, but don't just copy and paste: MEPs will rightly disregard it.

The Internet has
risen more rapidly and had more influence on society than any
preceding technology. At the heart of its success lies an obscure
technical feature: net neutrality. Simply put, it means that all
traffic is treated equally. That level playing field has allowed
innovation to flourish, and startups to create new industries in a
way never seen before.

As you know, on
Tuesday the European Parliament votes on new rules that supposedly
enshrine net neutrality in Europe. In fact, those proposals contain
such serious shortcomings that they are likely to have the opposite
effect, and will undermine net neutrality.

I would therefore
like to urge you to vote in favour of amendments that would return
the text to a form nearer the earlier one approved by the European
Parliament, which was far superior. In particular I would like to
ask you to support the amendments specified here:

In a surprising turn
of events, the US has passed strong net neutrality laws
(https://www.whitehouse.gov/net-neutrality). If the EU does not
follow suit, it will threaten digital innovation in Europe, and
hamstring its entrepreneurs, thus ensuring that the digital gulf
between the EU and US widens, rather than narrows. For this and
other reasons, it is vital that the amendments indicated above are
included in the final text.

About Me

I have been a technology journalist and consultant for 30 years, covering
the Internet since March 1994, and the free software world since 1995.

One early feature I wrote was for Wired in 1997:
The Greatest OS that (N)ever Was.
My most recent books are Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution, and Digital Code of Life: How Bioinformatics is Revolutionizing Science, Medicine and Business.